Grand Rapids short Sales-West Michigan Experience

If you are like thousands of Americans, you are looking for alternatives to Michigan Foreclosure--A West Mi Short Sale may be your answer.

Many sellers in the West Michigan Real Estate market are in a situation where they must sell, yet their home is not worth what is owed on the property.Sometimes this is called being up-side-down.It may be due to job loss, pay cut, illness or a job offered out of state. Whatever the reason, loosing your home is terrifying and stressful. Many home owners think that the only option is to let their West Michigan Home go into foreclosure and let it go back to the bank. There are better West Michigan Foreclosure Options! It is called selling your house short. Many Michigan home owners are taking advantage of a West Michigan Short Sale.

When you are in a position of not being able to make the payments on your West Michigan Home you know you need to sell, the first thing to do to lessen the impact is to be proactive. If you know you can no longer afford the home, it is imperative that you not be embarrassed or ashamed. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, had illnesses or just simply over-bought. Many have gotten jobs out of state and can no longer live in the home. Start aggressively pursuing the sale of your home before the payments are late.

What if I owe more on my West Michigan Home than what I can sell it for?

Once again, you are not alone when you find yourself in this position. Because of the rapid decline in the value of area Grand Rapids Homes, there are thousands and thousands of people in this position. But that does not mean it is hopeless to sell your West Mi Home. Selling your home at a Grand Rapids Short Sale will significantly lessen the impact on your credit--especially if you can sell if before the sheriff sale. The sooner you get started in the process the better you will have a chance of selling it before the sheriff sale.

What is a West Michigan Short Sale?

A West Michigan Short Sale is when a home is sold for less than the amount owing to the bank or banks. A Michigan Short sale specialist can negotiate with the bank/banks to take less than the amount owed and in most cases, you may not be responsible for the deficit amount. Read here on Hiring a West Michigan Real Estate Agent Experienced in Sort Sales.

Does everyone qualify for Michigan Short Sale?

No, not everyone qualifies for a short sale but many do. Michigan Short Sales must come with good reasons such as job loss, illness, pay cut, moving out of state for a job and many other reasons that would cause a West Mi home owner to be unable to make their mortgage payments. The only way to find out for sure if you qualify to attempt a Michigan Short Sale, would be to contact someone like myself that is a greater Grand Rapids Short Specialist or you may submit a Grand Rapids Short Sale Request. My team of professionals can then analyze your situation to determine if you might be a canidate for a short sale. To find out if you are a canidate for a West Michigan Sale, fill out the form HERE.

I'm only two payments behind, don't I have plenty of time to assess my options?

Two payments behind is enough to startMichigan Foreclosure proceedings. Every bank has their own processes but just two payments behind are already starting to accrue late fees. Your West Mi Home can be sold at sheriff sale (foreclosed) within just a few short months of missing payments. Some people are getting notices of sheriff sale when they are only one payment behind. If you would like to do the least possible damage to your credit, the best thing to do is to sell the house short before the sheriff sale. In order to do that, you need to start preparing right away.

What is a deed in lieu and would it be better than a Michigan Short Sale?

The banks would absolutely love for you to give a deed in leu (of foreclosure). It saves them the attorney fees to get you out of the house but it still shows as an open foreclosure on your credit record and you still have to wait for the home to discharged (sold to a new buyer) before your credit can even begin to start healing. And, they can still come after you for the deficit balance. My Michigan Short Sale team makes sure that one of the stipulations of the negotiations is that you are free and clear from owing any balance.

I am not behind on my payments but I just lost my job and know I can not keep the house. Do I have to be behind in my payments to do a West Michigan Short Sale? Is it possible to sell my house short without damaging my credit?

All banks have different rules, but it is possible to do a short sale while still being current in your payments as long as there is evidence of a hardship, such as loosing your job. There is no way to predetermine whether your credit will be affected because there are so many variables involved in a credit score. That being said, our team has a client that was current and we successfully negotiated the short sale and her credit went up! She had a high debt ratio and by paying off her mortgages her debt ratio dropped which as a result, increased her credit score. But we had no way to know that would happen. The impact, however, will be less destructive to your credit than going delinquent on payments and of course going into foreclosure.

I have been told that I can live in my West Michigan Home for 6-12 months after the sheriff sale for free, what benefit is there of selling the house short if I get free living for 6-12 months?

In this case it would depend on what your objective is. If your objective is to live for free as long as you can, then a greater Grand Rapids Short Sale would not be for you. If however, your objective is to minimize the damage to your credit so that you may purchase a West Mi Home in the near future after you get on your feet, then a West Michigan Short sale is definitely for you.

My West Mi Home has already went to sheriff sale and I am in the redemption period. Would it do any good to do a Michigan Short Sale in the redemption period?

Absolutely! Although your credit will have a little bigger ding than selling it before the sheriff sale, it is still better to show a redeemed foreclosure than an open foreclosure. But an even bigger reason is that when a West Mi Home goes to full foreclosure and the bank takes possession, your credit report continues to show an open foreclosure until the bank sells the home. This means that your credit can not even start the healing process until the bank sells the home which could be a year or more. But if you sell it short, the foreclosure is showing discharged when you sell it.

Once your team has determined I am a candidate to pursue a West Michigan Short Sale, am I assured of being able to complete the short sale?

If someone gives you assurances, it should set up red flags! When negotiating with the banks, there are many different banks involved and each bank has their own guidelines they follow. Each person also brings a whole different set of circumstances to the table so each case must be determined on an individual basis. Remember, my team will be working to negotiate the best possible outcome for you but with all negotiations there are breakdowns. That being said, my team has a 70% completion rate with the Michigan Short Sales they negotiated in the past year. One bank, Countrywide, is much worse than others to deal with. Without this bank in the mix, the completion rate shoots up to about 95%. But they are even completing more and more with Countrywide!

Do all Michigan Realtors® have the same negotiation skills?

Absolutely not! And I can say that because I tried to handle short-sales on my own for a year before I realized that negotiating with the banks is a full time job all by itself. My Michigan Short Sale team has contacts at each different bank that I did not. My Michigan Short Sale team knows the process for each bank inside and out. My Michigan Short Sale team can devote the incredible amount of time it takes to negotiate a short sale which leaves me to do what I do best--market your home so you are left in the best possible position. A single Realtor acting on their own will not be near as successful negotiating a West Michigan Short Sale as an entire team would be. In this case, it's all about knowing the process, and having established contacts--and my team has them with nearly every bank! Check out how to choose a Grand Rapids Realtor Experienced in Short Sales.

Would you like more information and a private consultation?

If so, please contact me at 616-209-8626 or contact me by email Tami(at)GRHomePro.com